Matej Kocak News

Crowley Maritime Corp.’s government services group has been awarded a $130 million technical management contract for five U.S. government-owned, Military Sealift Command (MSC) Roll-On/Roll-Off and container ships (ROCON). The contract will see Crowley provide full turnkey operation and management of the fleet, including crewing and scheduled/unscheduled repair and drydocking services initially for one year with four, additional one-year options. The turnover phase for the ships began on October 1. Of the five ships, two will remain berthed in Jacksonville and three will be homeported in Norfolk – all within the service area of Crowley’s local offices. This contract will have a positive economic impact through the creation of several new jobs in both Jacksonville and Norfolk.

The U.S. Navy and Japanese authorities are working to refloat a Military Sealift Command vessel after it ran aground Thursday off the coast of Okinawa. The Sgt. Matej Kocak, a Military Sealift Command ship led by a civilian crew, ran aground off the coast of Uruma at 11:30 a.m. local time and the Navy is working with Japan to free the 821-foot-long container ship, whose size is roughly equivalent to an amphibious assault ship. Cmdr. William Marks, spokesman for the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet said that the safety of the civilian crew members and the environment was their top priorities. U.S. Navy is taking this situation very seriously and will continue to investigate the situation until it's resolved.

Military Sealift Command's Maritime Prepositioning Ship (MPS) Squadron One was officially disestablished Sept. 28. USNS 2ND LT John P. Bobo (T-AK 3008) made a final port visit to Rota, Spain in late September, marking the official disestablishment of the 28-year-old squadron. The other ships and personnel assigned to MPS Squadron One returned to the United States earlier this year, where they currently maintain a reduced operating status. MPS Squadron One was one of three squadrons belonging to MSC's Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF)…

Keystone Prepositioning Services, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pa., is being awarded an $8,991,957 firm-fixed-price contract for the operation and maintenance of three of Military Sealift Command's government-owned Maritime Prepositioning Force ships:USNS Sgt. Matej Kocak, USNS Pfc. Eugene A. Obregon, and USNS Maj. Stephen W. Pless. The ships will continue to support at-sea prepositioning of equipment and supplies and surge-sealift requirements for the Department of Defense.This contract includes options, which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $47,403,888. The contract includes four one-year option periods and an annual award fee of up to $125,000 per ship.

Navy Capt. Charles “Gene” Emmert has relieved Navy Capt. Wesley Brown as commander of Military Sealift Command’s Indian Ocean-based Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron Two. Emmert, the squadron’s 27th commander, accepted command during a ceremony on board MSC Maritime Prepositioning Force ship USNS SGT William R. Button in Diego Garcia’s lagoon. The commander of MPS Squadron Two has a staff of 10 active duty sailors and is responsible for the tactical control and readiness of the squadron’s current fleet of 12 government-owned and -chartered noncombatant cargo carriers.

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp., Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $373,511,932 cost plus fixed fee contract for the construction preparation efforts for the second aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford class (CVN 79). Efforts under contract will include engineering, detail design, test and evaluation, logistics support and the procurement of long lead time material. Special performance incentives are also included under the contract. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by October 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-09-C-2116).

For more than 100 years Newport News Shipbuilding has held the distinction as one of the largest shipyards in the Western Hemisphere. The 550-acre facility, which is situated on a two-mile stretch along the James River in Newport News, Va., is best described as "a city within a shipyard," fully equipped to handle most any naval or commercial job, both newbuild and repair. MR/EN recently visited the yard to witness first hand how the world-famous yard utilizes more than a century of know how and an unmatched wealth of technical capability to get ailing ships — from "shave and haircuts" to complicated reconstructions — in and out, on time and on budget.